Courage and Will
by sirensbane
Summary: Takes place after the events of Thor 2. Thor grieves for what has been done to Erik, but perhaps he finally has a solution.


Thor took a slow step into the room, setting down the grocery bag on the kitchen table. Erik stood by the window, eyes closed and face lifted to the weak afternoon sun.

He was also stark naked.

"Erik?" Thor asked cautiously. "Are you...well?"

Erik jerked and spun around. For a moment, Thor saw no recognition in his friend's eyes, and then the man shuddered and forced a smile.

"Fine, Thor. Fine."

Thor glanced down briefly and made a noncommittal noise. Erik flushed.

"I suppose...I should put some clothes on."

Thor followed the scientist surreptitiously to the door of his room. There was a window in there too, and Erik paused beside it. He seemed reluctant to move away from the light. Thor watched a moment, then sighed heavily and went back to the kitchen. He put the groceries away. Then he sat down at the table to wait.

One minute passed, then two, and then Erik reappeared awkwardly in the doorway. He wore jeans and a flannel shirt which hung just as awkwardly on his staff-thin frame.

"Sorry," he muttered hoarsely. "I just...well, the sun...it makes me feel cleaner. Like all of it never happened."

Thor nodded in sudden understanding. "And you wished it to cleanse your entire body."

Erik nodded jerkily. "It's been better since Loki died."

Thor flinched. It pained him to think of Loki's death, and it pained him still more to realize how much his brother had been hated and feared.

Erik looked down. "Sorry, Thor. I know he was your brother. It's just..."

"He wronged you."

"He was a bastard!" Erik burst out suddenly. Mingled guilt and defiance filled his face. Defiance won. "Every time I close my eyes, he's talking to me, promising me the universe, and all he wanted was to use my knowledge to take over my planet. I'm glad he's dead!"

Thor sat very still, trying to keep his face expressionless. Although Clint Barton had expressed similar sentiments, it somehow hurt more from Erik. Fury welled up in Thor's heart, but it would do no good to unleash it on this man. Erik's mind had been shattered by what Loki had done to him. He had every right to think of Loki as an enemy.

An enemy...

"And to withstand an enemy requires armor!"

Erik stared at him, startled out his angry preoccupation. "What are you talking about?" he said, sounding almost like his old self.

"Wait here," Thor said. As he all but sprinted to his room and flung open the closet doors, he turned over his idea in his head. His hand closed on the cool metal of his helmet. Thor stood there for a moment. He felt suddenly like a child, trying to use a toy to hold back nightmares.

Well, at least this was no toy. Resolutely, he carried it back to Erik and held it out.

"What is this?" Erik asked bemused, then laughed nervously. "A helmet wouldn't do much against mind control."

Thor turned it over so Erik could see the runes carved along the inside of the helmet. "In my tongue, they read 'Courage' and 'Will," he told Erik, meeting his eyes. "May this helm bring you both and remind you of the great strength which already resides within your heart." He refused to look away, letting Erik see his sincerity.

Erik's eyes watered. "I let Loki take control."

"You fought back."

"I lost."

"Why then was there a weakness built into the portal?"

Hesitantly, Erik reached out for the helmet and slipped it onto his head.

"I look silly," he muttered, but a small smile spread across his face, and Thor grinned.

"No, my friend. You look like a noble warrior!" On inspiration, he went to the coat pegs at the door and retrieved his cloak. This he deposited around Erik's shoulders. "Ready to do battle with nightmares and memories."

The grin faded from Erik's face. "I'd need a weapon."

"Those are here," Thor said firmly, laying his hand over Erik's heart. "In abundance. You are not helpless nor beaten, Erik Selvig. And you will _never be_."

Fingering the cloak and reaching up to keep the helmet from slipping, Erik smiled hesitantly.

Thor beamed and thumped him gently on the back. "Come, my friend. Let two noble warriors celebrate our victory!"

And so it was that when Jane returned to the apartment some time later, she found Thor and Erik sitting at the kitchen table with mugs of beer. Erik was laughing as she had not seen him do since New York. For some strange reason, he was wearing Thor's helmet and cloak over his flannel shirt and jeans.

"Jane!"

Jane looked at her mentor's smiling face, caught Thor's eyes, and decided not to ask.


End file.
